Versa heart rate inaccurate

[elaynesimensen]

Driving in to work today my heart rate jumped to 100+ BPM. Later while walking to get a coffee at work, it jumped to about 140 and when I sat back down at my desk it was 160 and climbing. This is usually what I see when I am running for an extended period of time or pushing myself during a run. I did a manual count of my BPM and it was at 65. I like to think I am in pretty good shape and that driving and walking don't equal the same stress as sprinting. Is there something wrong with my Versa? Is this a known issue?

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[AlejandraFitbit]

Hey @elaynesimensen, it's great to see you around.

If you are having issues with your heart rate information, I recommend taking a look at this post, where you will be able to see some things that might be affecting this reading and some tips to improve it.

I hope this helps, let me know the outcome. 

[Redliana]

I checked the Versa heart rate monitoring against a Scosche arm band style heart rate monitor that I've used for several years. The Versa is completely wrong, and consistently measures my heart rate during cardiovascular activities to be 20-30 beats below the actual rate.  I tried every position on my arm, and I must say that I have experience fitting an arm based heart rate monitor successfully, but had zero luck with the Versa.  I find this very problematic given that one of the reasons I purchased the Versa to eliminate the need for a second wearable heart rate monitor.  Note that I have tried this during spinning and elliptical, neither of which have movements that would inhibit heart rate detection from placement on the arm.

I am extremely disappointed in Fitbits technology.  Perhaps a competitor will provide more accurate results.

[Ranki009]

I have had the same issue.  Just today, was on the treadmill.  the fitbit was consistently anywhere from 5-20 beats below what it really was.  I know my heart rate, and when I was at my peak (~160-165 bpm) it was showing in the 120's up to 140 or so.  When I know it was in the 130'2, it was <120.  I was NOT happy with this.  It's also not showing my HR when I am not in exercise mode - all I get are dashed lines.  I cleaned the interface in case that was the issue, but it did not help at all.  This is disappointing, as this Versa is fairly new (only ~3mos).  Thinking about changing over to Apple or another wearable......

[Tayz44]

Same problem of extreme inaccuracy, but the opposite direction.  During cardio I can count my pulse and can be around 160bpm, but the Fitbit only shows ~80-90bpm.  It’s almost like the reader isn’t smart enough to capture what’s actually happening... it takes about 20 minutes into a workout to actually “catch up” to reality. I’ve had it for a couple years and have seen the same canned post over and over for “tips to increase accuracy”, and despite following them all, no real solutions are even remotely close to being successful at providing a reasonably reliable product.  I get that nothing can be 100% accurate, but we’re not even talking close to 75% here...  more like 50/50 if you do the actual math on this. Starting to think that it is all bogus, and that I’ll look for a more reliable technology and not purchase again.  Same lack of transparency to explain the wild swings on resting heart rate makes me distrust Fitbit as a brand entirely. 

[MUCO77]

Similar issues with completely inaccurate heart rate during heavy exercise. Cycled for 3+ hours today with my chest strap heart rate monitor. Heart rate on the strap was generally in a range of 150-175bpm while FitBit was generally reporting less than 100bpm with one max of 150bpm. I'm wearing it properly.. that's not the problem. An exercise tracker that can't track exercise is not super useful...

[IamRojin]

I've worn a Polar watch and strap for years on my treadmill. I've compared the Polar to counting my pulse and it's always been accurate. It also matches that displayed on my treadmill. If it's wrong it's usually zero or double on my Polar watch. My Fitbit Charge is always wrong. Instantaneous comparison can be off by 20 bpm. For the last 2-months I've recorded daily my maximum and average heart rate on my treadmill. Polar maximum ranges between 125 and 139. Average ranges between 100 and 113. Fitbit ranges between being higher or lower by up to 15 bpm each day. A calorie comparison between Polar and the Fitbit is worse. The Polar ranges from 332 to 370 calories. But Fitbit daily can be 140 higher to 20 lower.

[Mithras90]

I'm running a Versa 2 in 2020 - I have the exact same issue, altough I only do heavy lifting/ gym work out.

It is constantly 20-30 beats below real HR, and I've tried everything, from 10 different positions around the wrist to switching arms to different tightnesses. 

When I do cardiovascular exercises, it can from time to time be accurate.

Still, I saw this as a solution to not being forced to have a chest strap, but I now instead find myself with my Polar H10 AND a fitbit versa 2.

[IamRojin]

My wife has two Versa watches as well as a Versa 2. I've compared all three with my Polar watch with chest strap and they're all significantly wrong. Unless I'm sitting down. On the treadmill, walking, climbing stair, or weight lifting the HR is all over the map. I know the Polar is correct my counting my pulse the old fashioned way. I've given up and have stopped wearing the Fitbit. 

[ZeeMan123]

Me too. I’m sitting watching a movie and my Fitbit says my heart is going to explode.

[JasonB5]

It seems that nobody cares to answer other thank the cookie cutter reply RTFM.. 

[EddieB1]

Same here. I wanted something where I didn't need the strap (had been using polar which was excellent except needed the strap). My versa 2 is proving problematic during cycling but is better when walking. Like you I have varied position and tightness.

[Filmdad3]

I'm just like all of you. Ever since the last update, I had a Versa 2 that was constantly incorrect. When I started a run, it would jump up almost 30+ BPM. Enough complaining got them to send the Versa 3, where the hear rate is even worse. Now, I sit there and my pulse is reading at 120- 140 even though it's actually 65. The worst part is, Fitbit is not even acknowledging the issue. So, finding out whether or not an update ot fix this is on the way is impossible. 

So, I think I'll sell this Versa 3 and get a Garmin. Can't be worse than this. 

[itsNikhil]

Facing the same issue on my versa lite

[JasonB5]

Have you tried swapping it around where the watch sensor less are facing the inside of your wrist? I tried that and it seems to be tracking my heart rate better on exercise. I swap back to the regular way, watch crystal facing outwards after my exercise. 

[EddieB1]

Great suggestion. Not tried yet but will do so. Cheers

[Filmdad3]

I've done this. I've tried positioning it on many areas of both wrists, even underneath. Nothing helps.

I just got an email from them. They're asking me what kind of phone I have. I think they're trying to lay this on a hardware issue or an issue of something else interfering with their software. Figures. Do everything they can to avoid taking responsibility. 

I highly suggest moving on from Fitbit. 

Moderator edit: merged reply

[IamRojin]

The issue is the watch doesn't accurately report the heartrate. The Polar strap around your chest is detecting the electrical signal that makes the heart muscle contracting. It's the same technology as used for an EKG and is a solid reliable signal. The watch uses an optical system consisting of LED illumination and a photodetector to detects changes in blood flow in the vein. It's a very poor signal so the watch has to use an algorithm to smooth the variations. The algorithm most likely uses averaging which causes a delay in reporting the heart rate and a predictor to overcome the delay. I've noticed on my treadmill or during strength training a large lag and overshoot in heart rate compared to my Polar watch with a step change in heart rate. At times it can lag up to 5 minutes and be wrong 30 beats/second. I'm curious if anyone has compared other watch's heart rate with a Polar watch. Is the Apple watch any better?

[JasonB5]

Okay, good luck, let us know if it works!

[IamRojin]

I decided to do a little research on activity watch heart rate accuracy. The most informative article I found was Which Smartwatch has the best heart rate tracking accuracy? It depends - MyHealthyApple. It explains how they work and confirms what most of these posts have found. They're ok at rest, not so good during steady state exercise, and poor during exercises that change heart rate. Accuracy vary between devices based on the type of activity and skin color. If you want accuracy, the Polar chest strap beats them all. At the end of the article there are links to five technical studies. The second study has scatter diagrams of EKG heart rate versus heart rate for the Polar strap and different watch brands.